Fresh Inspiration

Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality

Threaten others with a loud and boisterous faith, and you will be politely (at first) asked to quiet down; dance you faith instead of sitting still in your pew, and you will be asked to leave; talk about your faith with passion, and you will get expressions of concern about the inappropriateness of your emotions. Allow others to see your brokenness, and you will be reprimanded for being too open; hear the music of faith, and you will be warned of the danger of emotional instability. (40-41)

Yaconelli, Michael. Messy Spirituality. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002.

Pimple

Warning: This might be gross. If you have a weak stomach you might want to scroll down to start reading.
Also, this post is not meant to poke fun at acute acne problems. I fully understand severe acne problems are very serious. Please read this in humor.

When I was 14 I had the best zit ever. I mean, this thing was great… a trophy among other zits… King of the Zitworld. You may think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. It was at least 3/16” tall and as big around as a pencil eraser. White capped, taught and shiny, this beauty was positioned just to the right of my nose and stood out like a hood ornament on a 1978 Buick Electra. I remember I primed on this thing for at least three days before it finally… released [released is the nicest way I could find to put that this bad-boy zit erupted like Mount St. Helens and shot at least six inches in a gooey glob landing on the mirror]. Obviously, this was one memorable moment.

Thinking back, however, what I really remember most was the soreness. It’s funny that a pimple could cause my whole face to hurt. Smiling, frowning, scrunching my nose, winking, nodding [you get the idea]… any facial movement was painful. My social life suffered too. Everyone could see my zit because I carried it around with me wherever I would go. It seemed the more I tried to disguise the zit, the better the zit would show up.

And then came the “release day”. I can remember that the pain I felt as I [ever so gently] “encouraged” my friend into “liberation” was one of the most excruciating pains I had felt in my vast 14 years of existence. Although the pressure was gone, the scar remained, and a sore scar is an unhealthy scar.

So, I ask myself, what could I have done to eliminate this tragic incident? Using some acne medication would have been a good choice [Clearasil was always my fave… the tinted formula that didn’t show up as well. Kinda worked like makeup now that I think of it]. Acne medication is probably the easiest of the topical medications to use… you just open the tube and smear is on the “blemished” area. In most instances it dries things up rather nicely – much like forgiveness dries up emotional zits…our hard hearts, hurt feelings, and stubborn pride.

It’s easy to see our emotional zits. We carry them with us wherever we go, almost as if we’re proud of them. As they become more irritated they begin to grow and become sore, up until the moment they “release” and make a huge mess – usually affecting the people we care about most. It’s at this point the emotional zit turns into an emotional scar, and, just like a physical acne scar, acne medication can’t help. Only time heals physical scars.

The goal, however, is to apply the medication before the zit gets irritated, and chances are it will heal without the irritation, soreness and the scarring. Chances are others won’t even notice it, because with medication the skin is on it’s way to healing. Chances are, with medication, it will never “release” or cause an ugly mess with those we care so deeply about.

There have been times when I’ve needed to use some forgiveness medication in my own life… I think it’s safe to say we’ve all needed it at some point or another. The Apostle Paul reminds us of this in Colossians 3:13:

You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. (NLT)

During the late 1990’s and into the early 2000’s, I had the unique opportunity to drive a dirt oval racecar at local tracks in our area. It was time consuming and stressful, but I had a great amount of fun and excitement doing something I had always wanted to do. One Saturday evening, however, that fun came to an abrupt halt. As I was leading the race another driver rammed into me causing a substantial amount of damage to my car. Seemingly overnight I went from being the guy who races cars to the guy who was wrecked. As time wore on, my heart became hardened towards the other racer. I couldn’t stand to hear his name and I hated his car number. More than that, I began to hate what had happened to me. I felt like I was a victim – and my emotional zit began to become more and more irritated.

This incident really affected me, both as a person and a Christ follower. The human nature in me wanted revenge… good revenge that would teach this guy a lesson and show him just how irritated I was. The human part of me wanted to give back to him what he had dealt to me. However, the Christ follower in me reminded me that revenge was not an option. Jesus never encouraged revenge; on the contrary, Jesus was a great promoter of forgiveness. His words are obvious of that in Matthew’s Gospel:

14"In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can't get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. 15If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God's part. (Matthew 6:14-15, The Message)

Then, later in Matthew’s writings…

21At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" 22Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven. (Matthew 18:21-22, The Message)

Jesus taught what we all must know, that people will offend, but forgiveness will free. A hard heart or a bad attitude will only result in retaliation, but forgiveness will free the offender and the offended. Forgiveness will dry up that ugly emotional zit and heal the wound from the inside out. Forgiveness will allow relationships to once again be healthy.

Emotional zits can definitely paralyze even the best of us. Hard hearts, bitter attitudes and stubborn pride can ruin an otherwise healthy individual. The remedy is simply to forgive. Just as Luke 6:31 puts it, “Do for others as you would like them to do for you” (NLT), we should be forgiving others because Christ forgave us. The author of Hebrews puts it as purely as possible:

14Try to live in peace with everyone, and seek to live a clean and holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. 15Look after each other so that none of you will miss out on the special favor of God. Watch out that no bitter root of unbelief rises up among you, for whenever it springs up, many are corrupted by its poison. (Hebrews 12:14-15, NLT)

Are you ready to live in peace? Are you ready to heal some emotional zits?

Drain

Something funny occurred to me the other day.

I was taking my daily shower [and probably not washing my feet] when I noticed that some drops of water were just hitting the tub floor and washing down the drain, having never “lived” to their full potential. And this happens every time I take a shower.

I know what you may be thinking… “This is a way over critical observation”, and for the sake of an argument you would be right. But if each drop of water hit its target, how much more efficient and meaningful would our time in the shower be? But unfortunately, I would say at least one-third of these droplets [maybe more] never hit their mark, never have an impact, never reach their potential, and never get used.

Life would be better if we could use all the water in the shower. Think of what a refreshingly clean experience that would be if every single water droplet was used. Instead, a vast majority of them get washed down the drain – just like a moment in time.

Each day is filled with moments that we take for granted. Just like being in the shower, we are hit by the stronger moments as we miss the small moments that disappear down the drain. More often than not, these small moments are great opportunities that we undervalue and misinterpret as daily life. It’s in these small moments that our character is defined.

How is our character defined in the miniscule moments? It is in these moments that we identify with who we are living for, and who we are trying to please. It is in these moments that we decide if we are serving ourselves or serving others. It is in these moments that we have the opportunity to reveal the nature of God (love, grace, peace forgiveness, patience, hope, etc- Galatians 5:22-23).

Galatians 5:13 shares these thoughts:
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. (NIV)

I’ve only seen my father cry in public once. He’s a typical man… no emotions, especially not publicly. However, some 22 or so years ago, I saw him cry in front of everyone.

At the little church we attended when I was 12 years old my Dad took on a list of responsibilities, one of which was the role of Sunday School Director, which carried with it the obligation of giving the Sunday morning announcements to the congregation. On this particular Sunday morning, Dad got up and gave the Sunday School attendance and the other weekly information, and then he paused. As he began to tear up he told the story of how he had helped move a bed to my uncles house.

My uncle had recently come out of the military. He and his wife and children had moved to Georgia from Tennessee to find work in the mill that my father worked in. They had lived in Georgia for about three months. It was on this particular weekend that my Dad had driven to Clarksville, Tennessee from Rome, Georgia to pick up a bed frame, mattress, box springs and some other household items for my uncles home in Georgia.

As the story unfolded, it became obvious that my Dad was not crying because of his accomplishment; rather, he was crying because of what he hadn’t accomplished. He confessed that my uncle and aunt had been sleeping on the floor for some time. He confessed that He had been slow and inconsiderate in helping move the bed. He confessed that it was his responsibility to serve others, and he had not been a good servant. In essence, my Father was chasing a lost-forever shower drop that was destined for the drain. Luckily (for him and my uncle) he caught it at the last minute.

I have to admit; when it comes to serving I am great at serving myself. A lot of us are. I don’t think intend to be selfish, I think we’ve just been programmed this way. I think we’ve just been inundated with a culture that embraces ourselves. That’s nowhere near what Jesus teaches. Luke 6:31 simply explains, “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them!” (The Message).

This should be the goal of the Christ Follower: to design a shower in that all the water is used to its full potential… or in other words, make every possible moment count before they are gone forever – before they are gone down the drain.

God of This City: Meat

I’m a sauce fanatic when it comes to food. Steak, chicken, pork chops, hamburger… you name it and I’ll probably put some kind of sauce on it. That’s just the way I am.

Some people, however, don’t like a lot of sauce. They would rather eat the meat for the taste of the meat. If you’re one of those people, then this recap is just for you – no sauce, just meat.

The God of This City series was driven by the song of the same name that Chris Tomlin sings on the Passion cd… of the same name. V3.1 initiated the thought that a simple survey of any American city might disagree with the title, God of This City; however I believe God is the God of This City and it is the followers of Jesus’ job to transmit that. The Apostle Paul expresses the same sentiment:

11Scripture reassures us, "No one who trusts God like this--heart and soul--will ever regret it." 12It's exactly the same no matter what a person's religious background may be: the same God for all of us, acting the same incredibly generous way to everyone who calls out for help. 13"Everyone who calls, "Help, God!' gets help."
14But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? 15And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it? That's why Scripture exclaims,
A sight to take your breath away!

Grand processions of people telling all the good things of God! (Romans 10:11-15, The Message)

The conclusion: God wants to save all, but God has put His people in charge to tell The Message.

In v3.2 I began defining the two types of people… those we do know personally and those we don’t know personally. V3.2 dealt with the former – our own circles of influence, and asked the question, “What if we made God the God of the people we come in personal contact with on a regular basis. Again, our good friend Paul gave us some advice:

19bI have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ. 20When I am with the Jews, I become one of them so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with those who follow the Jewish laws, I do the same, even though I am not subject to the law, so that I can bring them to Christ. 21When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, F47 I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way, I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. But I do not discard the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ. 23I do all this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings.
I Corinthians 9:19b-23 (NLT)

The conclusion: If God is to be the God of This City, then we have to first make Him the God of the people we come in contact with on a regular basis. Before this city is changed, our circle of influence must be changed.

V3.3 deals with our response to being intentional by dealing with the people we do not already know and made the statement, “evangelism was never designed to be accidental.” In v3.3 we explored the principle that Jesus was the originator of intentional evangelism, as is demonstrated in John chapter 4:

3 He (Jesus) left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, `Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." 16 He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, `I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." (John 4:3-26, NASV)

The conclusion: We need to be taking Jesus with us wherever we go, building intentional relationships once we are there, and then intentionally sharing the love that Jesus has to offer with those people.

In brief, the God of This City series has been an introductory primer to personal evangelism. It is the role of each Christ Follower to reach out to those who don’t know Jesus. Again, Romans 10:14-15 explains it best:

14But how can people call for help if they don't know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven't heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? 15And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?

For God to be The God of This City, His Followers must share the Good News.

God of This City v3.3

Good Intentions

Confession time:
If I told you I wash my feet twelve times a year I would be lying. If I said six times a year I would still be lying.

Four.

I’ll go with four. (On average – depending on leap year and the phase of the moon and whatnot) four times a year I intentionally wash my feet. I mean, my feet do get into the shower with me at least once a day – sometimes twice, but washing your feet isn’t the easiest or most fascinating chore. Think about it… you’re on a slick, angled, porcelain like surface that becomes slicker as the shower water sprays directly on it. Now, you are expected to stand on one foot and soap up the other. Once the first is done the second becomes twice as difficult because you have to swap over to a super slick soapy foot. This may be easy for you, but I’ve realized that the older I get the harder it is to actually reach my feet! This makes my shower experience a balancing act as well as an excellent opportunity to win $100,000 on that funny video show. Therefore, I believe four times a year will suffice.

It’s not that I neglect my feet, like I said they do get into the shower with me every time I get in the shower. They do get some attention – just not the attention they deserve on a regular basis. They do get clean, but they might be a little rougher around the edges than they could be if I spent more time with them. I guess I need to be more intentional when I’m taking a shower.

We all have good intentions when it comes to our personal lives. We intentionally get up in the morning to go to work or school. We intentionally take the trash out so the house won’t stink. We intentionally wash our clothes, brush our teeth, pet the cats, yada, yada, yada... [If you’ve ever watched Seinfeld you automatically know what yada, yada, yada means. If not, just use your imagination.]

But what if we intentionally made God the God of This City? What if we went out of our way to show others who God is? What if we were a little more intentional about evangelism?

You see, evangelism was never designed to be accidental. Sure there are times when evangelism is a by-product of another church function, but even then it is intentional. I’m not exactly sure when this happened but somewhere between 33 AD and today some people decided that meeting on Sunday for an hour would draw the non-believers and non-followers [yes, as a matter of fact I do believe there is a difference] to The Message. No… Jesus was clear that we are to go into the world to spread the Good News.

Now, please don’t think I am against our Sunday morning worship services. I’m not – in fact I believe worship services are an excellent opportunity for “by-product” evangelism. However, what I’m talking about here is the command that Jesus gave us to reach those who don’t know who He is. Just as we are called to connect with our circle of influence [the people we see on a regular basis], we are also called to reach those that we don’t already know personally. We are called to be intentional.

During His time on Earth, Jesus was a master at intentional evangelism. He understood that in order to encourage people He had to know people. I believe that Jesus knew that if He showed interest in someone, “that” someone would give Him their attention.

An example? Certainly!

3 He (Jesus) left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, `Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." 11 She said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" 13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." 16 He said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." 17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have correctly said, `I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." 21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." 25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." 26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?" 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and said to the men, 29 "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.

31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. (John 4:3-34, NASV)

I don’t think it was any accident that Jesus went through Samaria and stopped at this well. Remember, during that period in history the Jews hated the Samaritans – so for Jesus to even explain Salvation to this Samaritan woman was radical. However, what I believe is more radical (although rather simple) is the fully intentional approach Jesus made to reach her. His strategy was simple: 1.) Go where she would be, 2.) Show interest in who she was, and 3.) Share the Truth of Salvation with her [radical, right?].

Interestingly enough, He never invited her to church [don’t go throwing sticks at me… we will discuss this in another blog. I really believe that Jesus’ plan was for His followers to lead others to Him, not just a preacher on Sunday mornings.]

So, I figure if Jesus was intentional, we should be too. We all do intentional things, right? We all go out to eat, put gas in our cars, go shopping, go to the library, go to the doctor, go to work out etc. What if, when we went out to eat, we went to the same place at least once a week and asked for the same server each time. What if we built an intentional relationship with this server on his or her terms and showed interest in who that person was [this will be harder than you may think. Servers are there to serve you – but for intentional ministry to truly work you will need to serve them. This is not the place for bad tips!] What if, over time, we come to discover who this person really is, where they are in life, what motivates or discourages them, and/or why they believe they exist? What if, during this process, we have the amazing opportunity to share the Truth with them about Jesus, His love, passion, and saving grace? What if?

As a follower of Jesus I believe I have been given the command to share Christ with other people, whether I know them or not. Consequently, for God to be the God of This City it must be my objective to be intentional with my every day life. What will this involve? First, prayer is essential to keep this from being a hit or miss deal. I pray that God will lead me to the person He has for me. Secondly, it will cost – time, money, etc. If I buy my gas from a convenience store that raises their gas prices over a competitor, it may cost me a little more for a gallon of gas in order to build an intentional relationship with the store clerk [I once heard a wise man say that pay at the pump is a killer of intentional evangelism.] Finally, consistency is key. I will absolutely, positively, without a doubt have to be constantly consistent – both with my faith and with my scheduling. If I plan to eat lunch at the same restaurant on Tuesdays to build an intentional relationship there, then I should be consistent with my scheduling. However, if I’m having a lousy Tuesday, maybe I should weigh the odds on whether or not my visit will be positive. If my attitude isn’t consistent with my faith then my authentication will suffer.

Remember my illustration about my feet? It is not that I neglect to clean my feet; it is that I am not cleaning them intentionally. The same is true for our intentional ministry. It is not that we aren’t seeing new people every day, it is that we are neglecting to build intentional relationships with those people.

Really, this all boils down to taking Jesus with you wherever you go, building intentional relationships once you are there, and then intentionally sharing the love that Jesus has to offer with them. Jesus completes His thoughts from the above passage this way:

“34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. 35 "Do you not say, `There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” (John 4:34-35, NASV, italics added)

Now is the time for us to be intentionally reaching others for Christ.

God of This City v3.2

Under the Influence

In my house there lives three cats. Each cat is different – each cat is unique. However, they have something in common… All three only see three humans most of the time – myself, my wife, and my son. So, I think it is apparent to say they have a limited circle of influence.

I don’t see much TV anymore unless it is in PBS form [Caillou is my new fave], but I do recall a commercial for Alltel Wireless (now part of Verizon) in which the main selling point was a service they offered called the “My Circle Plan”. Basically, the plan was designed to allow Alltel customers the freedom to choose who they would talk to the most, no matter who their mobile phone service was through. Thus, if I new I would be talking to Billy Bob or Sally Sue, and each of them were with completely different mobile service providers, I could add them to “My Circle” for free calls to and from my phone from their respective phones.

[I know, I made it sound much more complicated than it actually is.]

The point? We all have a circle of influence. Whether it is a small circle, such as my house cats, or a wider circle with many faces, we all have a circle of influence.

Now, lets do some re-defining of terms in light of our theme “God of This City”, and pull us back on track.

When we think of God of this city, lets change it to God of our city. And when we think of God of our city, lets change that to God of our circle of influence. And just for kicks, lets re-define circle of influence as being the people that we come in personal contact with on a regular basis. Now, to further confuse us, lets put this all together as:

(The) God of the people we come in personal contact with on a regular basis.

[Catchy huh? I thought you’d like it. I bet Chris Tomlin would have a hard time singing that!]

Now, think about this for a moment: If we decided that our goal was to help make our Savior the God of the people we come in contact with on a regular basis, then we could change the whole make up of our city, our state, our country, and our world!

Are you willing to take that chance? Who are the people in your circle of influence? Who are the people you spend your time with day-in and day-out? Who are the people that you know – who are the people that you see? Are you willing to join the challenge of promoting Christ to the people that come into our lives on a daily basis?

Paul of Tarshish was. He took it on as a personal ambition to endorse Christ as the one and only Savior to the people of his circle of influence. Now, this Tarshish native was no slouch when it came to delivering The Message. In fact, he had a pretty interesting scheme. He lets his secret out in his first letter to the church in Corinth:

19bI have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ. 20When I am with the Jews, I become one of them so that I can bring them to Christ. When I am with those who follow the Jewish laws, I do the same, even though I am not subject to the law, so that I can bring them to Christ. 21When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, F47 I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way, I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. But I do not discard the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. 22When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ. 23I do all this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings.
I Corinthians 9:19b-23 (NLT)

Paul’s plan was simple: He was not going to offend anyone unless it went totally against the Word of God. If a persons customs, traditions, habits, actions, (etc.) didn’t infect the gospel of Christ then Paul was, quite frankly, “cool” with it. It was as if he said, “Maybe as I get involved in things that don’t matter (in the grand scheme) with you, then you will get involved in things that do matter (in the grand scheme) with me”. In other words, it is all about perception. When Paul was with one group of religious people he took on their customs and traditions, and when he was with another group of religious people he took the same approach. He only wavered when their traditions and customs went against the Truth that is the Gospel. He understood that Truth does and will offend, but only the truth should offend. Customs and traditions only distinguish beliefs, the Truth sets one free.

Here’s the Burton Coffman Commentary perspective:
"Paul felt no obligation whatever to keep the forms and ceremonies of the law of Moses; yet he observed and kept such things in circumstances where his failure to do it would have antagonized the Jews, and in cases where their observance did not violate the spirit of the new law in Christ Jesus. Thus, Paul shaved his head; but there is no record that he ever ate the Jewish Passover. As he said, 'Christ is our Passover.'"

(http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=1co&chapter=009)

Novel approach, right?

Is this your motive within your circle of influence? Paul’s goal was simply to bring others to Christ. He knew that in order for God to be the God of “his” City he would have to work so that God would be the God of his circle of influence.

Recently I made a new friend. Honestly, if I came across this guy at Wal Mart I would probably go the other way. He’s a big guy with his ears pierced, tattoos, a bald head and a long goatee. Oh, and he is a biker that hangs around with biker people in a biker gang.

And he’s a Christian.

His goal is to reach bikers with the gospel of Jesus Christ. If he went to the clubhouse in a three-piece suit and a “professional part” he would probably be killed, but because he has become all things to this group of people and has encouraged the Truth among them, he has become respected by them. Thus, he has the opportunity to influence them.

If God is to be the God of This City, then we have to first make Him the God of the people we come in contact with on a regular basis. Before this city is changed, our circle of influence must be changed.

Are you up for the challenge?